


The calm before

by 1anioh



Category: Original Work, The haunted (TV series)
Genre: Episode 7, Leave house, Prequel to an episode, Roger is so chill, The ghost has got it bad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 09:00:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10963986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1anioh/pseuds/1anioh
Summary: The Haunted TV series is a collection of one shot episodes of people dealing with ghosts, in s01 ep07 'Leave house' a lady and her two daughters move into her new husbands home and start to experience unpleasant things. This is a prequel as to why said house and ghost never bothered the husband before they showed up.





	The calm before

**Author's Note:**

> This episode was so odd in that the husband lived in the house forever and half and never had any problems with his 'housemates' but this new wife shows up and suddenly everything is going down hill. So I turned it into jealous ghost being bitter about his man getting stolen. Enjoy.

Flemming tugged on the bottom of his gray uniform coat. He’d already shined his buttons this morning and he was taking serious consideration on stitching up the tear on his handkerchief. The problem with being dead though was that at as soon as the clock ticked over to 3:01 am everything would revert back to the way it had been  _ before _ he’d gone through the process of fixing his outfit. 

It used to bother him - 100 years ago that tear in his handkerchief had driven him to near insanity. Heck, seven years ago he would have thrown a chair out of the window from upstairs (again) of this damn house he was stuck in if he had to resew that pocket fabric  _ again _ .

That was, of course, before. He was much better nowadays, steadier. More solid. Well, solid mentally. Flemming grinned wryly down at his coat. He was about as solid physically as the north wind. There was a soft click of a door opening behind him and he would deny the goofy grin that graced his face until the end of time. He straightened his spine, and turned to face his housemate. 

A short, slightly pudgy, man shuffled into the kitchen and made a beeline for the coffee pot. He was squinting at the floor as he moved, Flemming noted with a fond grin, his glasses hooked on the front of his nightshirts neckline. 

“Good morn’ Roger. Did you sleep well?” Flemming hadn’t expected anything other than the sleepy snort he got in reply. Roger wasn’t a morning person, and the fact that he never questioned  _ how _ coffee was made fresh in the old pot every day was ridiculously endearing.

Roger was what his Gram would call ‘a proper right man’. If Roger would have been around in the 1880’s he would have been tagged by the women in his family as a good match for one of his sisters so fast he’d’ve never have seen it coming.

Although back in 1880 he would never have considered Roger as anything other than a potential annoying family member., as he’d been too busy earning a name for himself in the army. Strange how being dead for near forever changes a person.

The pleased groan Roger made as he sipped on the hot coffee drew Flemmings attention back to the present with a jolt. Frankly if he could touch the living he’d be dragging Roger back towards the bedroom from that noise alone.

He coughed and grinned, watching Roger shuffle back towards the living room with his mug in hand.

“Don’t forget thar’s a sale today at the market.” Flemming followed after Roger into the next room, gently directing him towards a cushioned chair by the window. “And you’re almost outta matches.”

Roger mumbled something, scratching at some stubble on his chin as he sat down. He squinted at the soldier for a moment, making Flemmings heart turn over in his chest, before going back to focus on drinking his coffee.

He was almost positive Roger could see him, and hear him, most of the time. But Roger was such a accepting, steady man that he’d never complained about Flemmings fussing over him, or the occasional fit he’d thrown when they’d first started sharing a roof. In fact, Roger seemed to just accept everything about the soldier and his aging house. All of the quirks from the stone basement never being bright enough to the nights Flemming was too restless to do anything but stomp about the attic and curse fate.

He settled into the chair across from Roger, and focused on watching the birds flitter about outside instead of staring at his companion. Just because he was dead didn’t mean his manners were.

“The gutters on the garage looked loose last night.” Rogers voice was rusted with sleep, and it surprised Flemming into looking over at him. “I’ll have to stop at the hardware store and see if one of the boys there can come by and check them. After the last time I tried fixing things, I reckon everyone would be happier if I didn’t.” He chuckled.

Flemming grinned. Twas true, Roger was many things. But capable of wielding a hammer straight was not one of his skills, and the house had indeed been upset with the crooked boards holding the porch’s roof up. After a near month of fighting with nails and screws constantly being mysteriously removed Roger had finally given in and had a proper carpenter show up to fix the porch. One afternoon later and not a single mishap with the porch siding has happened since.

Roger grunted and set his mug down, standing and stretching his arms above his head to pop the kinks out of his back. He chewed on his bottom lip for a moment before dropping his arms and turning towards the stairs that led to the bedrooms on the second floor. “S’pose I should change before heading into town though.”

Flemming nodded and turned to look back outside. The house would be quiet while his friend was out, but that would give him time to fix his handkerchief and refill the birdseed outside the window.

“Thanks for the coffee, by the way. Was perfect as always.” Flemming jerked around to stare at Rogers back as he ascended the stairs.

The smile the split over his face was wide enough that he was sure even the house would make some comments later.

He didn’t really mind though.

Because Roger liked his coffee. 


End file.
